Hello lovelies,
Älplermagronen are one of those dishes where everyone here is at the table immediately. At some point I wondered what would happen if I layered them into a baking dish instead, and that is how this Swiss alpine lasagne came about: lasagne sheets instead of pasta, paper-thin potatoes, apple slices and onions in between, cheese on top. So the apple sauce no longer sits beside it, it sits right inside.
If you would rather layer vegetables, my eggplant lasagne with pesto is the Mediterranean answer to the same question. This one is pure Swiss comfort food instead, with nutmeg, cream and a proper amount of cheese.
Potatoes and apples
Both have to be sliced paper-thin, otherwise they cook more slowly than the lasagne sheets and stay firm in the middle. I use starchy potatoes because their starch thickens the sauce further, and tart apples that can stand up to cream and cheese. I use exactly the same slicing technique for my potato tarte flambée with fennel, except that there the slices turn crisp rather than creamy.
I season the sauce too strongly on purpose. While baking, the potatoes and pasta sheets soak up so much of it that a politely seasoned sauce ends up tasting bland. If you like the principle in its autumn form, do try my autumn lasagne with pumpkin.
The next day the lasagne tastes almost better still, because everything has settled. I reheat it covered at 160°C (320°F) so it stays juicy. If you are looking for a vegan version, my vegan pumpkin lasagne a little different shows how well it works without cream and cheese. I would love to hear how the alpine lasagne turned out for you.
